18-year-old Sentenced to 20 Years for Blaine Teen's 2021 Killing
Isaiah Harold-Stephaun Holmes, now 18, has been sentenced to a total of 240 months following the murder of 15-year-old Anthony Joseph Rouse, of Blaine, in July of 2021. Holmes was 17 at the time of the shooting and was initially charged with five felonies including 2nd-degree murder, 1st-degree assault and 1st-degree attempted aggravated robbery.
According to court documents, on July 18, 2021, Rouse and two friends went to an address in Fridley where they had previously purchased marijuana intending to buy marijuana again. After discussing the purchase, several males returned to the vehicle. One entered the van and another appeared at the passenger’s window with a gun and indicated they were robbing the three teens. The shooter, later identified as Holmes, told the driver not to yell or run, but the driver hit the accelerator in an attempt to flee, prompting Holmes to shoot into the van.
The male that had entered the van at the address, realizing that Rouse had been shot, demanded to be let out of the van as they approached a stop sign nearby and got out of the vehicle. The teens proceeded immediately to Unity hospital. Rouse was transferred to HCMC for additional care but was pronounced dead two days later after suffering massive bleeding from gunshots to the neck and shoulder, and catastrophic brain injury due to lack of blood flow and oxygen.
Holmes admitted to having been aware of the shooting at his address but denied any involvement, claiming he heard the shots and left to go to a nearby Cub Foods on his bike a few minutes later. Surveillance video from Cub Foods did not show Holmes there during that timeframe. However, dash cam footage from a State Trooper that drove by moments before the shooting, as well as video from nearby buildings proved not only his presence at the shooting but clearly showed him firing the same weapon described by the occupants of the van into the vehicle, striking Rouse.
He was credited with 198 days served, most of which was spent in the juvenile detention center until he turned 18, when he was transported to the Anoka County Jail in late December. Holmes entered a guilty plea on Jan. 12, 2022 and was sentenced Feb. 1. He will be serving 168 months for 2nd-degree murder, 36 months for 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon/commit great bodily harm and 36 months for 2nd-degree assault. These sentences will run consecutively, adding up to a 20-year sentence.
Amos Cham, now 20, who was also involved in the murder of Rouse, is also housed in the Anoka County Jail on a 2nd-degree murder charge in connection, as well as felony financial transaction charges and multiple warrants. Cham entered a petition to plead guilty on charges of 2nd-degree assault and aiding and abetting 2nd-degree murder on Feb. 3rd.
Cham’s sentencing is scheduled for April 29.